FORT MONROE, September 14, 1865.

THOMAS T. ECKERT, Acting Assistant Secretary of War:

Your telegram just received. Prisoner Davis wrote a letter to his wife over two weeks ago, which was forwarded to the War Department. He fears she has not received it and requests permission to write another. Your telegram to Mrs. Davis states the present condition of the prisoners.

NELSON A. MILES,

Brevet Major-General.

WAR DEPARTMENT,

Washington, D. C., September 14, 1865.

Bvt. Major General N. A. MILES, Commanding, Fort Monroe, Va.:

You can permit the prisoner Davis to write another letter to his wife, which must of forwarded to this Department before being sent to her.

THOS. T. ECKERT,

Acting Assistant Secretary of War.

NEW YORK, September 14, 1865.

The CONFEFERATE PRISONERS OF WAR:

Having performed the duty of furnishing you supplies, agreeble to the arrangement between General Grant and Colonel Ould, I feel that it is due to you and just to myself that you should have an outline of these duties. The arrangements made to supply the prisoners of war through the agency of their respective authorities permitted the Confederate authorities to send 1,000 bales of cotton from Mobile to me in this city, to sold by me and the proceeds to be expended in the purchase of supplies as you might need. At the time of the arrangement-11th and 12th November, 1864-it was thought that the orders to receive the cotton on a U. S. vessel would reach Mobile on the 22nd of November, and that the cotton would reach this city about the 6th of December. Under this impression, at that date the United States War Department had me paroled and permitted to come from Fort Warren to this city for the purpose of receiving and selling the cotton. Nothing having been heard of the cotton, on the 5th of January, 1865, my parole was suspended and I placed as a prisoner of war in Fort Lafayette, where I remained until the 24th of January, when, 830 bales having arrived, my parole was renewed and I allowed to enter upon my duties. The long delay brought the cotton to this city on a greatly depreciated market. As this delay and the consequent very heavy loss to the prison fund has been attributed to various causes I wil state that from official letters in my possession I learn that on the 17th of December, 1864, General Granger, U. S. Army, commanding in Mobile Bay, notified General Maury, commanding at Mobile, of his readiness to receive on board a U. S. transport the 1,000 bales of cotton; that on December 22nd General Maury notified General Granger of his readiness to ship the cotton; that the 1,000 bales were received on the transport and receipted for by a U. S. officer on the 15th of January. The vessel being of insufficient capacity to bring the entire quantity, 170 bales were left with the U. S. quartermaster of Fort Morgan for future shipment to New York. I have learned unofficially that the delay was caused by miscarriage of orders and uncommonly tempestuous weather.